PublicLife

Not 100% sure if this is from the Ang Mo Kio round block, but it must be from some round block somewhere in Singapore: Frankly, I'm not too sure that I'd enjoy living in a flat shaped like a slice of pizza, not matter how 'unique' it was or how great a view it had.

Some of these corner EMs also took on a variety of unique configurations: Courtesy of an older RT blog A & E's E.m.

One thing that a lot of people fail to realise in Singapore is that it wasn't just the HDB (and HUDC) who built flats in the past. Lots of government and quasi-government agencies did it. Even JTC built flats! Here's one in Boon Lay:

Most of us are familiar with this sort of EM (the classic design!): Courtesy of A Bright & Airy Executive Maisonette But interestingly there are also corner EMs of a more squarish shape:

You're welcome! I'm still searching for the HDB loft floorplans myself... And thanks for the contribution for this truly unique point-block EM! P.S. Really love what you've done with your place BTW.

And here's something from the opposite end of the spectrum: A 1-room HDB flat!

The original multi-generational flats: Three bathrooms and so much space that grandma might get lost...

Now, most 3-room HDB flats that people know of tend to be of this variety (where the only major differences are really in the position of the storeroom and the orientation of the front door): Courtesy of My Little Home at Tampines or Courtesy of Our First Min-I-Home However, HDB has tried to get creative over the years and there are quite a number of alternative 3-room flat layouts as well: Some obviously are intended to limit proper ventilation in your toilet... while others are refreshingly squarish. Courtesy of Our 3rm Resale Flat @ Redhill Close

Of course, for the 'Model A' series, there were also 3-room flats, like this one: From an old RT blog as well: Our Small Box And, no, I have no idea what a "Playdeck" is either... Who is supposed to be 'playing' there? Why are they 'playing' on a staircase landing? Most mysterious... Another puzzling term courtesy of HDB that has now beaten "interaction balcony" as my all-time fave! And, in case you are wondering what on earth an "interaction balcony" is (who exactly are we supposed to be 'interacting' with?), see these RT blogs for (some) enlightenment: Homemakin' and Fork & Spoon's Lovely Drawer

Another old RT blog that I like features one of the very first HDB 4-room flat designs (the 'Model A' type): Home for the Beans

Finally found one! But only the lower floor unfortunately... I'd love to have the top floor too, but no luck so far... It's described as a "sky terrace executive maisonette". And at 163 sq m in size, it is pretty amazing! HDB seriously needs to start building more of these!

Of course, however, HDB terrace houses, though nice, are far from ideal: the lease is rapidly running out, they're small, there's only one bathroom, there aren't many of them in the first place (so it's hard to get your hands on one), etc. So, naturally, we all love... The HDB maisonette! The ground-floor ones have an especially 'house-like' feel to them.

Very nice! And much more sensible than the SkyTerrace@Dawson units (see below): The Dawson lofts have a single room on the loft level that has no attached toilet (although there is admittedly a toilet in the neighbouring studio / granny apartment - but do you really want to barge into your grandma's flat and ask to use the loo?)! So, anyone who wants to sleep in the loft room better have pretty strong bowels... because the only toilets are downstairs!

Of course, my vote for the all-time award-winning, 'let's-ask-HDB-to-make-more-of-them' layout has to be: The HDB '3-room' terrace house! Mega applause! Though, of course their biggest flaw has to be the fact that they essentially only have one bathroom. I guess, in the past, having more than one loo was considered a luxury!

I love it too! Spacious, well-designed and with lots of windows (very airy)! And the common bathroom has 2 access doors - one of which faces the common bedrooms (HDB finally realised that people don't always want to walk through their kitchen to get to the toilet!). I also like this variation on this general design:

What an 'interesting' layout the master bedroom has! I must say though that it is the bathrooms that are the most strange. Bathroom 1 is so small that there is barely enough room to do any sort of business properly, while bathroom 2 is big enough to do ballroom dancing in! Another 'what-was-HDB-thinking' moment...

Sadly, I haven't been able to find it either. I'd love to have one of those to add to my 'collection'... All I can do is to admire them from afar for the time being: HDB penthouse at $100k over valuation: Clever or crazy? Give up the sky for $1m?

What's even rarer though are... 3-room point blocks! Again though, they suffer from the 'one toilet' syndrome... And the bathroom does seem to suffer from some serious ventilation issues (any 'big business' in your toilet is quite likely to stink out your bedrooms, kitchen and possibly the dining room as well!).

What a lot of people don't realise though is that HDB even built 4-room point block flats (there's one at Spottiswoode Park )! The catch of course is that it only has one bathroom in reality (split into two - a W.C. and shower area - good for people who like to keep their 'business' separate ).

Of course though, this is the classic 5-room flat design of the 1980s and early 1990s (by the mid 1990s, everything had changed - in came service balconies, external rubbish chutes, then air-con ledges, and finally the infamous bombshelters, of course): The balcony served as an excellent foyer (finally, a sensible area to deposit one's shoes before going into the flat itself!), and the flat itself was essentially one giant square (more or less), making the placing of furniture pleasingly uncomplicated.

Unfortunately, the trend of putting the common bedrooms in sometimes rather unlikely (and distant!) locations continued throughout much of the late 1980s / early 1990s... as in the layout below, which strangely enough puts the common bedrooms at the opposite end of the flat from the common toilet (that would surely make things rather difficult if one needs to use the toilet in a hurry in the middle of the night!).

An all-time popular choice: The point-block 5-room flat. One of HDB's earliest (and most rational designs), this layout sensibly puts the storeroom near the front entrance (making it useful as either a pantry or shoe cupboard), has a kitchen that's large enough to actually do cooking in (something that cannot always be said for newer HDB designs), has lots of windows (let's hear it for good ventilation!), and groups the bedrooms together near the dining / family area (as it should be!).

Very true! The poor workers don't earn much after all (I'm sure their bosses get the lion's share of the profits) and they work long, hard hours for a living. And, I'm fairly certain that most people don't show them any kindness or consideration, so it really makes a difference when someone does.

In a continuation of this pattern, the HDB also created EA / 5-room blocks, where the EAs were along the corridors and the 5-rooms were at the corners, like this: So, if you wanted a really big EA, you had no choice but to pick a corridor unit... But if you wanted 'privacy', you had no choice but to pick a rather oddly configured corner 5-room. (I can't help but wonder why on earth one of the common bedrooms is sandwiched between the living room and dining room...)

Yup. It sure is lovely! Was admiring it some time back, and was hoping to get a top-floor unit some day too but the prices now are unbelievable... And, for all those who may be interested, Berry Surprise has a HDB 'penthouse' of this configuration: